Forget 9-to-5. Mothering knows no schedule—and often it feels more like 5-to-9 and everything in between. In this series, we look at the hectic, messy, sometimes beautiful, often frustrating enterprise of being a mother—and maintaining a life of your own. Consider it a “day in the life” for the most powerful women we know.
Here, Hallie Jackson the anchor of Sunday NBC Nightly News as well as Hallie Jackson Now walks us through a typical pre–Election Day. Jackson will coanchor NBC News’ election-night coverage beginning at 5 p.m. ET on NBC and NBC News Now.
Read earlier installments from Jemima Kirke, Hilaria Baldwin, and Karine Jean-Pierre.
7:12 a.m.
Slept in a bit this morning—no Today show live shots today, and I got home at midnight the night before after a trip to 30 Rock for election rehearsals. Pre-kids, I’d typically stay an extra night in New York to see friends or do dinner with colleagues, but these days I find myself cramming everything into a quick day trip so I can get home. Monroe jumps into bed yelling, “Mama!” I’m beyond obsessed with the morning snuggle situation. We all head downstairs, and I pack her lunch while my partner, Frank, makes us all breakfast. It’s our family meal on weekdays, and we do eggs, fruit, sometimes waffles, and yogurt. I clean up the morning kitchen tornado while Frank bikes Ro to school.
8:32 a.m.
I log on for a quick virtual workout with my (eternally patient and beloved) trainer Ingrid, who relocated to Canada after years of living in DC. We work on heavier lifting since she knows I don’t love “bouncy BS.” I missed two months of sessions when the news cycle went bananas in July, so I’m working on getting some strength back. It’ll be my last workout with her until our Decision Desk calls the election, but I’ll try to sneak in a long walk during calls or a quick Pilates session over the weekend.
12:15 p.m.
Good election mantra: Always listen when Steve Kornacki speaks. He’s doing an internal briefing today, one of a zillion prep sessions on my schedule. I’m working from home for part of the day, which, yessss. Last week, I hit three swing states in a single afternoon on Air Force Two ahead of an interview with Vice President Harris, so today I’m enjoying sitting still while I can. Our 1890s-era row house has a tiny back bedroom that I’ve commandeered as a closet–slash–office–slash–yoga room, and I love the view out the window.
12:30 p.m.
Quick girl dinner for lunch. I’d honestly rather have emotional-support queso for every meal, but I’m trying to remember to take a multivitamin and hydrate during this stretch. Possibly a vegetable on occasion.
1:30 p.m.
Pause for pre-K Halloween! My little skeleton piglet butterfly is in her first school Halloween parade, so I’ve had this half hour blocked on my calendar for weeks. Frank and I cheer on the kids as they march around the block.
1:40 p.m.
I’m mid parade when I get a call from the executive producer of NBC Nightly News, launching me on a Pennsylvania election story for the show tonight. There’s so much political news to cover, and the network has a massive team across all of our linear, streaming, and digital platforms: NBC News, NBC News Now, and NBCNews.com. I shift a few things around to make time to huddle with producers and work up a script. I bike to work most days, and my route to the bureau this afternoon takes me right past the Capitol. Frank picks up Monroe from school today and drops her off with our nanny, passing the child-care baton until dinnertime.*
4:48 p.m.
I grab my laptop and head to the studio downstairs for our NBC News Now show, Hallie Jackson Now. Ever since I started doing a work uniform a couple of years ago, I’ve been legit shocked by how much mental labor it saves me: Blazer, tee, jeans, sneakers, done. We lead with campaign politics and close with a World Series update tonight—very October.
7:11 p.m.
I’m sprinting out the door postshow, and I make it home in time for the last couple of bedtime books. It’s a good day when I can wake up with Ro in the morning and then tuck her in at night. We’ll spend a lot of time apart while I’m in New York for election coverage. I’m lucky to have our village crashing in to make sure she doesn’t miss a beat at home: parents, in-laws, sister, all traveling in to take a rotation.
8:39 p.m.
Frank and I catch up on our days and start to dream up a post-election vacation plan, although we’re super behind on booking anything. I’ll head to bed in an hour to try and bank sleep…while I can.